Day 202… Thursday 12th October
Vervet monkeys on the prowl for food this morning and had to protect the breakfast preparation. Todays drive time 4 hours. Drove through Katavi National Park. No park fees to pay and a beautiful quiet route with hardly a passing car. Saw giraffe, warthog and hippo. Our stop for the evening was at Holland Hotel in Sumbawanga. It took a while to find the right road and entrance. The one-way road system did not help matters. Took a walk around the town. Found bread from a mini-mart and eggs from a shop stall set behind security gates. Google translate helped for Swahili and we passed cash through in exchange for a dozen eggs. Hot and dusty town. Our hotel had no air-con but the bed was comfy and the restaurant served delicious local food. Dinner for 2 cost 23,000 Tanzanian Shillings (£6.91).
Allen’s perspective…
We have come across quite a few people on this trip who only come to Africa for the national parks… the very expensive, over priced parks, which in my opinion look similar to one another and have broadly the same range of animals in them. One Zimbabwean couple (who now live in Australia) are spending around $80,000 to travel for seven months through pretty much all of southern and east Africa’s national parks. Bonkers!
The West African theme continued in todays hotel with a old, sad looking Christmas tree present. There is something about Christmas decorations left up in perpetuity. A bizarre but common theme.
